Drunk Army officer killed Chennai boy Dilshan?

Chennai: In a sensational twist in the Dilshan death case, a Lt Colonel is said to be the Army man who shot dead the 13-year-old boy in cold blood.

As per reports, Wednesday, the Army officer was in an inebriated condition when he shot Dilshan, when the latter trespassed into the Army residential quarters to pluck almonds.

“The Army officer who opened fire at Dilshan locked himself in the toilet immediately afterwards, and was later cajoled to come out by colleagues who feared he would commit suicide,” a newspaper reported quoting a police source.

The officers is said to have been spirited away in a civilian car to Bangalore.

For the record, the police have questioned a Lt Colonel and two other Army personnel in connection with the case but are yet to make a breakthrough.

In Delhi, Army sources said a Lt Colonel, a jawan and a civilian guard were made available to the CB-CID in Chennai for questioning. They have not been detained, the sources said. On its part, the CB-CID Additional DGP R Sekar avoided a direct reply about the questioning of the Lt Colonel but said the probe was still on and no conclusion could be drawn now.

Asked if the state police were planning to seek the nod from Army headquarters to question some officers here, he said that Army officers in Chennai were extending “full assistance” in the probe.

An Army statement said all its personnel in the vicinity of the spot of Sunday’s incident and the civilian security guard on duty in the compound, who could throw any light on the incident, have been made available for joint investigations (by military police and CB-CID police).

Army authorities were providing ‘full assistance’ to CB-CID, which is probing the death of Dilshan due to bullet injury the statement said.

“The GOC (Chennai Area) has re-affirmed that no guilty person will be shielded,” it said.

Dilshan, residing in the Indira Gandhi Nagar locality adjacent to the Army quarters in the Island Grounds locality, fell victim to a mysterious bullet, triggering protests from the locals. The boy’s family has alleged he was shot by Army personnel.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had also said the teenager was killed by an Army jawan and had written to the GOC requesting that the culprit be handed over to the state police.